(PERU)
Crux [Denver CO]
August 1, 2025
By Elise Ann Allen
A victims advocacy group has continued to advance allegations of coverup against Pope Leo XIV despite revelations that the accusations were made by a former priest who himself was defrocked for sexual misconduct, and who has a historic grudge against the pontiff.
On July 31, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priest (SNAP) held a press conference to again discuss allegations of the sexual abuse of several women from the Diocese of Chiclayo.
The case involves allegations made by Ana María Quispe Díaz and her two sisters against two priests in Chiclayo, Eleuterio Vásquez Gonzáles and Ricardo Yesquén, of sexually abusing them as minors.
A source with knowledge of a pending Vatican case against Vásquez Gonzáles told Crux that it has already reached a conclusion, though the results have not yet been conveyed.
Among other things, SNAP has repeated old claims that Pope Leo XIV covered up the case – allegations that were first made by defrocked priest and former canon lawyer Ricardo Coronado.
An ex-Augustinian who was defrocked last December for sexual misconduct, Coronado, according to individuals who lived with him in the late 1990s while he ran a formation house for the Augustinian Order in Peru, has a history of sexually inappropriate behavior, including with the young men under his care, and has long harbored resentment for then-Father Robert Prevost over perceived ideological differences.
Coronado also holds close ties to a Peru-based lay group that was suppressed earlier this year by Pope Francis, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV). Prevost played an active role in the case during his time as a bishop in Peru, and as a cardinal in Rome during a Vatican inquiry launched by Pope Francis.
Díaz apparently spoke to then-Bishop Robert Prevost over the phone about the alleged abuse, which happened prior to Prevost’s arrival, in 2020, and in 2022 all three of them sat down with him to discuss the allegations in person.
Among other things, these women allege that after coming forward, Prevost failed to open a preliminary investigation and did not inform civil authorities about their complaints. They later filed a civil complaint.
The Diocese of Chiclayo has denied these accusations, issuing a 7-point statement Dec. 12, 2023, saying Prevost had immediately launched an inquiry, prohibited the priest from ministry, and sent the results of the preliminary investigation to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in Rome. He also urged them to make a civil complaint if they wished, but warned that the case would likely not go far due to a statute of limitations.
The DDF and civil authorities ultimately opted to close the case in 2023, with civil authorities citing the statute of limitations and DDF a lack of evidence, but it was later reopened by the apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, who took over leadership when Prevost left, when Díaz went public with her complaint.
SNAP on Thursday repeated calls for the priests to be removed and provided copies of a letter Díaz received in July in which she was told that Vásquez Gonzáles requested earlier this year “to be dispensed from the obligations arising from his ordination as a priest and to leave the clerical state,” and that the process could take up to six months.
While SNAP lamented delays in the process and said the timeframe would take too long, sources familiar with the case told Crux on background that it has already reached a conclusion, though the results have not yet been conveyed.
No one has accused Pope Leo of abuse himself or of knowingly keeping accused priests in ministry.
Regarding the allegations that he did not initially act on the Díaz sisters’ allegations, a Vatican official last October told Crux on background that, “the matter was examined, and Prevost was not found to have covered up. He acted in accordance with the regulations in force at the time.”
Earlier this year, when SNAP first put a spotlight on the Chiclayo case, Crux contacted then-Cardinal Prevost’s office in Rome for comment on assertions that he had also failed to offer psychological support and was told that this claim was false.
Prevost, his office said, had put the women in touch with the diocesan listening center, which offered them psychological assistance, and one of the women “did take advantage of those services.”
Regarding the assertion that Prevost did not contact civil authorities, Prevost’s office said he spoke with the diocesan lawyer after the women came forward and was advised that the case would not be investigated civilly “because of the statute of limitations.”
He advised the women to make a civil complaint if they believed it would help, “which two of them did, but in fact the cases were closed because so much time had passed since the time of the alleged offenses.”
The allegations of coverup against Pope Leo XIV in the Chiclayo case have become particularly problematic as they emerged only after Coronado stepped on as the women’s canon lawyer.
A former Augustinian, he represented the women from May until August 2024, when he was barred by the Peruvian bishops from practicing canon law due to allegations of sexual misconduct, and later defrocked, having been accused last year of an unspecified “crime against the sixth commandment” by his Diocese of Cajamarca in Peru.
Several sources familiar with both Coronado and now-Pope Leo told Crux last year on background that Coronado has harbored resentment against the pope for decades, in part over the growth of liberation theology in Peru and Coronado’s belief that the Augustinian order had become too progressive, and that Prevost even as a young pastor was part of a progressive movement in the church that needed to be reformed.
Coronado also maintains close ties to the former Sodalitium Christiane Vitae (SCV), which was formally suppressed by Pope Francis prior to his death April 21, after having expelled a prominent archbishop belonging to the society along with several others last fall.
According to the individuals familiar with Coronado, he was a personal friend of the Sodalitium’s founder, discredited layman Luis Fernando Figari, accused of a variety of abuses, including the sexual abuse of minors, and several other top-ranking members.
Coronado, they said, even served as a confessor at the Sodalitium’s formation house in the San Bartolo neighborhood of Peru, and maintained close friendships with several members of the group up to its suppression earlier this year over ongoing abuse and corruption allegations, as well as its mafia-esque tactics of attempting to discredit critics and former members.
The individuals with whom Crux spoke voiced their belief that Coronado’s decision to accuse Prevost publicly of coverup even before Pope Francis’s death was likely retaliation for actions Prevost had taken against a prominent archbishop in the SCV, Archbishop Jose Antonio Eguren, emeritus archbishop of Piura, both in Peru and in Rome.
When allegations against the SCV first surfaced in Peru, Prevost was already serving there as Bishop of Chiclayo and had been involved in the case during his time as head of the national safeguarding commission, at a time when Eguren was being publicly accused of abuse coverup and financial corruption, and when he sued the two journalists who uncovered scandals in the SCV.
Eguren was ousted from leadership of the Piura archdiocese by Pope Francis in April 2024 over ongoing allegations of coverup and financial corruption, with the decree having to pass through Prevost’s office.
It was a month later, in May 2024, that Coronado began serving as legal counsel for the Chiclayo women in their case, and it was only then that public allegations of coverup against Prevost began to surface.
The Peruvian television program that initially published the allegations of coverup against Prevost in May 2024, Cuarto Poder, have since published another report apologizing for not having the full set of facts at the beginning, and saying the women and their suffering have been manipulated.
In a previous statement to Crux, Coronado has denied any wrongdoing, saying through a lawyer that he had committed “no crime” to result in his defrocking.
SNAP in a previous statement to Crux has defended their decision to give prominence to Coronado’s claims, saying to focus on the questions surrounding Coronado’s credibility “changes the subject from Prevost’s conduct in response to the victims’ testimony…to allegations of internal conflict between clergy.”
“What matters are the underlying facts of the case, and the motivations of the canonist are irrelevant,” they said.
SNAP did not respond to a series of follow-up questions from Crux on Coronado’s ongoing role in the case and whether they have been in touch with the Vatican regarding the status of Vásquez Gonzáles’s case.
Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen